Norwegian opens base in the U.S.

SAS competitor Norwegian has started an American company and, according to the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Industri, October employ several hundred people in New York or Florida, to strengthen the airline’s transatlantic relations.

Norwegian expects to have 800 employees on long-haul routes in 2014, half of which will operate from American soil. The staff will include taking care of the eight new Dreamliner aircraft that Norwegian has ordered.

“We set up our own base with employees in the U.S., when we get the third Dreamliner aircraft in late October. In Asia, the crew is 50 per cent. cheaper than at home, and in the U.S. it is also much cheaper. It is the airlines in the U.S., we compete against, “said Norwegian’s CEO Bjorn Kjos, for Today’s Industri.

The airline priority thus U.S. to Asia despite the fact that it has long been talked about linking Asia and Europe via low-cost routes to Bangkok. The reasons include that it is easier to obtain U.S.flight rights than Asian and that traffic flows currently are strongest between Europe and America.

Find news for the Nordic travel industry, including trends and analysis, news briefing, job vacancies across the Nordic area, and an informative global travel trade calendar. We currently have 15 000 daily visitors in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Baltic countries.